Flight of the Raven
by Angelic Sovereign
Summary: Disclaimer: I own nothing from W40K. Long-forgotten secrets torn from the Eldar lead a company of the Raven Guard Chapter of Space Marines in a crusade across the galaxy, in search of the lost Primarch Corax. Raven Guard OC


**Angelic Sovereign: Finally, I get to a W40K Fanfic! I originally had one typed up for the Blood Angels, but I really wanted to do a Chapter that hadn't been represented yet. With a Salamanders book on the way, I went with my next choice: the Raven Guard. I really hope to do for them what William King and James Swallow did for the Space Wolves and Blood Angels respectively: take a Chapter with no history, and make it my own. So, without further ado, the first chapter of Flight of the Raven!**

Barely visible in the torrential downpour that wracked Charybdis IV, a cloaked figure darted across the rocky landscape. In his gauntleted hands, the black-shrouded scout cradled a sniper rifle, the long-barreled weapon sinister in both form and function. The scout leapt up onto a rocky outcropping and scanned the area slowly and deliberately. After several long seconds, he touched his hand to a comm-bead in his ear.

_Area clear. Form up on me._

Within seconds, four other figures rushed to the scout's side from their hide-aways in the rain and mist. Two of them held boltguns at the ready, while another carried the large, boxy shape of of a heavy bolter. The massive weapons would send a torrent of miniature, high-explosive rockets, or bolts, racing towards the foe. The final figure was not cloaked and shrouded, but resplendent in jet-black power armour. A power sword rested in its scabbard at his waist, and he held his bolter one handed. Upon one shoulder pad, a white raven insignia was visible. The Space Marine ran to the edge of the outcropping, and took cover behind a boulder at the lip of the promontory. The sniper and heavy weapon trooper took position on either side, while the other scouts guarded the rear quarter.

The sergeant glanced at the sniper as he scanned the crater below them with his scope. "Assessment?"

The sniper shifted, tracking black specks beneath them. "The xenos are well fortified. It seems to be mostly their citizen-soldiers, but that unit there, in the flame-coloured armour, is some of their elites."

The sergeant's lip curled beneath his helm. "Eldar Fire Dragons, specialists in flamer and melta technology. Some of their best."

The heavy weapon trooper sighted down the barrel of his massive bolter. "And that one?"

The sergeant followed his gaze. A Fire Dragon stood their, its humanoid body lithe, but it's helmet rose up into an elaborate crest, and it carried a massive, lance-like weapon, instead of the short and snub-nosed weapons the others wielded. "Their exarch, a leader of great skill. His death will be a priority."

The heavy weapon trooper smiled grimly. "His death will be most glorious."

The sergeant nodded as he pulled a device from his belt. "Indeed."

The sergeant sighted through the single lens of the device and centered it on the exarch as he directed the Eldar troops from a podium. As he did so, a nearly-invisible laser shot across the intervening space. After a moment, the device chirped, and the words TARGET ACQ. flashed across the HUD of his helm. He opened up his comm to the mighty Raven Guard battleship in orbit above the planet.

_Battle-Barge Corvus, this is Sergeant Caius. Target is marked, begin assault._

_Confirmed, Scout Squad Talon, drop-pod assault underway. Assist as needed._

Caius nodded, and the sniper beside him fired. Below, the exarch's crested head exploded in a fountain of brain and bone, and the Eldar camp sprang into immediate disarray. _By the will of Corax._

_By the will of the Emperor. Corvus out._

Caius hefted his bolter, and drew a bead on one of the Fire Dragons. He squeezed off a single round, which struck the xenos elite in the throat. The explosive round blew through its armour like tissue paper, and the Dragon crumpled.

"Sergeant," the sniper muttered as he ended the life of another pagan xenos, "we have inbound hostiles."

Caius watched as Guardians, the citizen-soldiers of the Eldar, swarmed up the crater, spraying monomolecular shards, or shuriken, from their guns. "Scouts, take them down!"

The heavy bolter roared, sending hot, chain-fed death to the enemies of Man. The rearguard scouts rushed forward, adding their own explosive firepower to the fray. The Guardians, in their light armour, fell in droves. Some made it up to the lip of the promontory, and so Caius drew his power sword, the weapon sparking and crackling as it slid from its scabbard. He held it aloft, just as the first drop pods began to streak across the sky.

"For Corax!" The Caius' cry rang above the dull roar of bolter fire and the shrill wine of flying shuriken.

The first pods landed amid the confused and distracted Eldar, and the Space Marines that burst from them tore the xenos apart with hails of bolter fire. As they entered the fray, they answered. "For the Emperor!"

Caught between the disciplined fire of the scouts, and the ferocious suprise assault of the Tactical Marines, the Eldar suffered horrific losses, but they would not yield. The melta weapons of the Fire Dragons turned power-armoured Space Marines into piles of slag with bursts of super-heated gas, and the shuriken catapults of the Guardians even claimed the lives of a handful of battle-brothers, the monomolecular shards slicing through weak spots in their armour to wreak havoc on their organs. Caius calmly drove his sword through a Guardian, toxic xenos blood sizzling and boiling off the power field of the blade. Shuriken bounced off his ceramite armour, and he let loose a burst of fire from his bolter in return. Another Guardian crumpled, its chest blown out by the explosive rounds. Cauis and the two scouts kept the xenos off of the sniper and heavy weapon trooper, who continued to pour fire down on the Eldar to help the advance of the Marines below. Caius' comm-bead crackled to life as he clubbed another alien to the ground with is bolter.

_Talon squad, this is Omega. We have incoming assault troops, give us some covering fire._

The sergeant set his jaw, and ran through the melee, knocking aside xenos and crushing their feeble forms beneath his boots. He reached the edge of the outcropping, and spied aliens in bone-white armour, with elaborate helms and shimmering power swords, bearing down on the Marines. Hellish wails and screams reached his ears over the din of battle.

Howling Banshees. All-female warriors, and some of the greatest shock-troops the Eldar possessed. "Target the Banshees, give Omega some support!"

The scouts opened up with gusto, but the Eldar warriors ran on heedless towards the already embattled Tactical Marines. They would be cut to pieces.

Blurred shapes roared overhead and slammed into the Banshees with a cry. "Vinctorus aut Mortis!"

Caius grinned as the Assault Marines, equipped with jump-packs and chainswords, tore into the effete Eldar. Now the battle could begin in earnest.

With a final cry of "For Corax and the Emperor!", Caius and his squad rushed down the hill and into the fires of war.

**Angelic Sovereign: Wootness! I'm excited. I didn't have alot of time to proofread this, so point out any errors you find in your review. Also, I couldn't find a Warhammer 40,000 section, but if there is one, please let me know and I'll move this one to it's appropriate location(should it exist). Reviews would be nice.**


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